The Source
by The-Fickle-Lady
Summary: This was inspired by theories and speculation I saw floating around Tumblr about Lydia's powers, how Peter knew about them, and her elder sister. In short, this is the story of Lydia's final days in the company of her big sister.


Teen Wolf

The Source

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing.

Summary: Inspired by some theories I saw floating around Tumblr on Lydia's banshee powers, how Peter knew about them, and her older sister. In short, this is the story of Lydia's final days in her sister's company.

* * *

_Fourteen…_

Lydia was eight when she first asked her elder sister why she couldn't tell even their mother about "the secret" as Skyler and great-aunt Libby called it without fail. They were in Skyler's bedroom and Lydia was sitting on her sister's bed as she did the finishing touches on her hair and makeup before her date arrived. Skyler had been in the middle of describing how she'd show her all her beauty tricks one day when she was old enough when Lydia cut in with the question that had nagged her since she was six years old.

"Why can't we tell Mom about the secret?" She asked, meeting her sister's eyes with the help of her vanity mirror. She watched Skyler's eyes go wide for a second and her blink away her surprise before turning in her seat to look at Lydia a sympathetic smile.

"Because Mom wasn't born into the Martin family like me and you and Aunt Libby." She explained, standing up and approaching the bed. Lydia scooted over so Skyler could sit beside her. Her sister wrapped an arm around her and used the other to give a wave of her hand, closing the bedroom door across the room. In normal families, Lydia knew that sort of thing didn't—couldn't happen and if it somehow did, any witnesses would be scared out of their wits. But Lydia couldn't remember a time her sister and herself hadn't been able to do such things or did so liberally when Mom and Dad weren't looking. Which brought another question to the young girl's mind.

"What about Dad? He was born into the Martin family." Lydia pointed out.

Skyler smiled sweetly down as she replied, "He's a boy. Only Martin women can know the secret."

Lydia frowned, quickly finding another error in her sister's answer.

"Grandma Martin knows. She wasn't born into the Martin family and she doesn't even have the same…same…" Lydia struggled on whether over whether the word 'powers' was appropriate or not. However Skyler seemed to understand without another word from her.

"Grandma Martin grew up with Aunt Libby and Grandpa Martin. Aunt Libby let her in on the secret only when she married Grandpa, but only because she trusted her to keep it and to warn her that if she had any daughters, they'd be like you and me and her." Skyler said, gesturing to herself and Lydia and at a picture of Aunt Libby on her bedside table. Grandma, Mom, and Dad were featured in a photo framed right next to it.

"That still doesn't explain anything." Lydia protested, crossing her arms over her chest.

Skyler sighed, rolling her eyes at her to top it off. Lydia would have done the same at her sister's lack of good answers if she wasn't so frustrated by it to do anything but frown at her stubbornly. Her lips refused to quirk upwards even as Skyler started carding her hand through her hair, something she usually loved.

"So analytical," She heard Skyler mutter. "One day it will make or break you, I swear."

"Answers please." Lydia pressed impatiently.

"Fine, if you really want it in black and white, Lydia, the truth is that only Martin women are privileged to the secret and few others outside of us unless they're…" Skyler puckered her lips thoughtfully before continuing with a broad smile, "Part of our world, like the Hales. It's matter of security."

Lydia balked at her elder sister. "You mean that weird Peter guy is like us?!" She asked, absolutely aghast. Skyler laughed and shook her head thankfully.

"Oh no, he and his family are different from the Martin family. In the end, though, we're all part of the same world. A dangerous one, Lydia. One that regular people outside it best not know much more about than what movies and books say." Skyler warned her with progressive graveness. Lydia's eyes widened.

"How dangerous?" She whispered worriedly.

"Enough so that years and years ago, long before our family even came here from Ireland, it was decided only the women of our family should be burdened with the secret. Our brothers and sisters-in-law and nephews shall remain blissfully unaware as we and our nieces live double lives like many people of our world do." Skyler answered.

Lydia rapidly began to regret her curiosity, wondering if she should have waited for Skyler and Aunt Libby to properly explain it all to her when she was grown up, like her gut had initially told her to. Of course, her mind had been extremely unsatisfied by her gut's advice and decided to ignore it; Lydia wondered if there was a more upsetting conversation she could have with her sister than the one she was having right now.

Her mind, always so eager to come to up with new questions to ask, decided: yes, there was.

"Why only us and nieces?" Lydia asked quietly. "Why not daughters too?"

The way Skyler's expression fell confused her at first but she soon realized without a single word from her sister what her sad eyes meant. Lydia's heat sank and she got the sudden urge to cradle the baby doll in the back of her closet that she hadn't played with in almost three years. Skyler wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace and whispered comforts in her ear, telling her that they'd at least always have each other.

* * *

_Thirteen…_

Mom and Dad never asked why Aunt Libby always happened to be at Grandma Martin's house when they took Skyler and Lydia there to visit and Lydia guessed it was because that was just the way things had always been. Lydia had certainly never questioned it growing up.

The routine had been the same for as long as she could remember. Mom or Dad would drive her and Skyler out to Grandma's, Grandma would answer the door smelling like Icy-Hot and that old perfume that Lydia had never smelled on anyone else but her, and after hugging them all as tightly as possible with her bony frame she'd show them to the kitchen where Aunt Libby would be viciously critiquing the Little Debbie's snack cakes Grandma had bought exclusively for Lydia and Skyler's visit even as she opened up her third one; Aunt Libby would beam at the girls as they entered the kitchen, hug them, and hand Lydia the snack cake in her hand absently as she and Grandma spoke to whichever parent had dropped the sisters off. Never was Libby's presence questioned and Libby never explained anything with without proper prompting; so the subject was never touched upon, Lydia noticed as she and Skyler enjoyed their snack cakes at the kitchen counter with two glasses of milk procured by Skyler while the adults spoke. Skyler would always just be finishing her glass when Mom or Dad finally said goodbye and left. When the door shut behind them, Aunt Libby would turn to the girls with a smile and ask if they wanted to start practice now or wait until after lunch.

"Did Grandpa know?" Lydia asked as she and Skyler lay on the floor of the soundproof room on the second floor of the lake house. Well, not completely soundproof, Lydia noted. She didn't open her eyes; she didn't want to see the walls. The voices of her fellow banshees were bad enough.

"No." Skyler answered beside her. "Aunt Meredith, Grandma, and even his own aunt went to great lengths to keep him in the dark. Same with Dad. The boys in our family are helpless compared to the girls, so it's best they stay out of supernatural affairs, otherwise they might get hurt or worse, and then where would our family be? Our line would end and there would be no more Martin banshees."

"How did Grandma and Aunt Libby explain this room to Grandpa then?" Lydia asked. It was a rather strange room, even for the supposed purpose of listening to music. The plain white walls and carpet and the blood red record player and sound system—it was ominous like something out of a scary movie. Lydia remembered being scared when she first started coming into the room with Skyler to practice.

"Grandpa never asked very many questions, even when he probably should have. Like father, like son, right?" Skyler scoffed bitterly. Lydia rolled over to swing an arm around her waist and give her a squeeze. Skyler returned the gesture and the two sisters cuddled closely together on the floor. The voices in Lydia's head went quiet and she let out a content sigh.

"No one nearby is going to die and the banshees I hear are just anxious about things like math tests and paying water bills." Lydia said into her sister's shoulder, voice muffled. "Can we go outside, you think?"

"Depends on whether Aunt Libby thinks we've had enough practice for today." Skyler replied.

Twenty minutes later, Lydia found herself playing Marco-Polo with her sister in the lake. Apparently, Aunt Libby thought a break from their training was an excellent idea. Grandma dug out the swim suits she kept for them when they visited and told them to have at it while she and Libby finished the Lifetime movie they were watching. She'd call them inside when lunch was ready, she had said as the girls raced out the back door.

"Marco!" Lydia called, wading through the shallow water. It came to her collarbone when she stood, but Lydia preferred to swim. She could stand and walk on land any time; water was for swimming.

"Polo!" She heard Skyler call to her left. Lydia darted in that direction.

"Marco." Lydia called again, softer this time.

"Polo." Skyler replied. Lydia grinned, feeling her sister nearby. She reached out, grabbing at the air as she swam in the direction she heard her in. She heard soft splashing and knew Skyler was trying to beat a stealthy retreat.

"Marco." Lydia called one more time. She knew she was about to win. When Skyler called back to her, she'd touch her feet to the bottom and leap at her. Skyler was cornered.

"Polo." A distinctly male voice called. Lydia's eyes snapped open and Skyler gasped before splashing at the young man standing on the lake shore with a furious growl.

"Peter," Skyler shouted, marching ashore. "You better get out of here or I'll have my aunt Libby call your sister." She threatened, but by the looks of Peter's face you would have thought she had asked him about the weather. Peter only spared Lydia a glance before smirking at Skyler.

"Who do think sent me?" Peter asked and Skyler huffed indignantly.

"Nice try, but Talia knows the deal. We leave you Hale's alone and you leave us Martin's alone. We don't want you dragging us along with you into the Argent's crosshairs."

Lydia had only heard bits and pieces about the Argent's. Libby and Skyler didn't talk about them unless the Hale's involved somehow. The first time Lydia could remember hearing about the Argent's was when she was six and Skyler was fifteen, old enough finally to talk about serious matters with Libby and Grandma. A member of the Hale Pack had been killed by the Argent's, Lydia had overheard when she was supposed to be watching cartoons. Aunt Libby warned Skyler to stay away from a boy named Derek Hale and a girl named Laura Hale. They'd only bring them trouble she said. The second time the Argent's were mentioned had been the first time she met Peter Hale. He had shown up out of the blue at their house one in Skyler's freshman year. He and Skyler had talked in the kitchen as Lydia listened in through the vent in the bathroom. Peter had tried to get Skyler to agree to an alliance between the Martin's and Hale's against the Argent's. Skyler turned him down, saying Aunt Libby told her not to get involved in wolf nonsense unless she wanted an arrow in the heart. This was the third time Lydia had heard about the Argent's.

"Talia would like to renegotiate." Peter countered Skyler's remark easily.

"Why is that? Did one of you get yourselves shot again? If that's the case, I'll paraphrase what my great-great aunt told your great-grandfather eighty years ago: we Martin's refuse to be your flea-bitten asses' impending death via silver bullet early warning system." Skyler spat angrily. Lydia wondered why her sister was getting so riled, but then she saw how Skyler's eyes kept flickering in her direction, as if checking to see if she was okay. Her body-language was tense as well. She didn't trust Peter Hale, Lydia realized and she cautiously waded backwards in the water away from shore and away from the Hale boy.

Peter looked over at her and Lydia froze, barely restraining a whimper. Peter looked at her with disinterested eyes but that didn't stop Lydia from being afraid of him. He had to be bad news the way Skyler was acting around him. Him and his whole family had to be nothing but trouble.

Skyler stepped into Peter's line of sight, blocking Lydia from her view. Lydia let out a sigh of relief.

"Why would you come to me to discuss things anyways? My aunt is the one in charge of our family. If you think just because we went to the same school for a year I might feel some sort of inclination to help you persuade her, you're more wrong than socks with sandals." Skyler said edgily, hands at her hips.

"Who said I came to you to discuss things. I just thought I'd say hello before I went and knocked on the front door." Peter laughed and Lydia watched as her sister turned on her heel and started striding back into the water, chin held high.

"Well you've said hello, so now carry on with your business and get the heck out of here as soon as possible before I go down to the basement, dig out the Christmas decorations, and shove a sprig of mistletoe up your nose." Skyler snapped over her shoulder.

"I haven't said hello yet though." Peter pointed out with a smug smile.

"Well?" Skyler asked, rolling her eyes and giving Lydia a look that read: "Can you believe this guy?"

"Hello." Peter chirped and in a flash he was gone.

Skyler sighed as she swam past Lydia, further off shore. Lydia followed after her. She didn't want to be too close to shore or too far from her sister in case Peter came back.

"Sky, why do the Argent's hate the Hale's?" Lydia asked curiously.

Skyler shrugged her shoulders before turning onto her back to float. Lydia followed her lead as usual. "It's just how things have always been." Skyler said. "I'm sure there's a reason. There has to be—Newton's Third Law and all—but it's been so long I doubt either side remembers what it was very clearly. Maybe a few stupid jerk wolves messed with the wrong family and gave them a bone to rightfully pick and that was the spark that blew the whole keg. Or maybe humans were just being their usual narrow-minded selves and the fear of the unknown was all the reason they needed. The answer to your question has been lost to the flow of time, Lydia, no matter what either side says. They're both unreliable narrators." Skyler lamented, leaving Lydia wondering just how deeply the feud between the Hale's and Argent's ran.

A high-pitched scream pierced the air like a viciously sharp blade. Birds took flight from the trees in fright and Lydia and Skyler winced, recognizing the furious voice of Aunt Libby. Lydia covered her ears and shut her eyes tight to block out the noise; it passed quickly, thankfully. When she opened her eyes, Skyler was grinning in the direction of the lake house. Lydia looked over to see Peter stumbling away from the house, holding his ears. She smiled to herself as she watched him sprint away with his figurative tail between his legs.

The girls returned to the lake house several minutes later, laughing.

"What did he do?" Skyler asked as she and Lydia strode through the kitchen. Grandma sighed and tossed them some towels, scolding them for getting water all over the floor.

Libby sat at the kitchen table, scowling at her tea cup and drumming her fingers against the table. Her blond hair had turned to brittle silver, a sure sign Peter had somehow angered so terribly that she had reverted to her hag form temporarily—the most malevolent form of a banshee. She had already reverted back to her healthier, younger form, all except for her hair.

"He had the nerve to make a veiled threat. As if Talia would ever condone such a thing." Libby scoffed. "We may not be the best neighbors, but we have the same goal: to protect our families. Peter wants to help his family too, but he's young and impulsive. Hopefully Talia will knock some sense into that boy. He's already in his twenties; he's becoming far too old for this foolishness." Libby shook her head and took a sip of her tea.

"Mmm, chamomile." She sighed contentedly, slumping in her chair.

"Works every time." Grandma muttered with a smirk from the oven, from which she pulled a tray containing four tiny pepperoni pizzas.

"You sent him packing with bleeding ears," Skyler threw in. "Do you think the Hale's will see that as some sort of affront? I don't want claw marks on my locker Monday morning. Laura and I already don't get along after the loudspeaker incident last year." Her sister pointed out anxiously. Lydia gave her a look. What loudspeaker incident? She wondered.

"Relax, Skyler, everything will be fine. And if not, well, I keep wolfsbane in my garden just in case. You can never be too careful after all." Libby smiled wryly. She patted one of the chairs beside her. "Now come and sit. The pizzas are ready." She said with a grin. Lydia enjoyed her pizza heartily, assured that as long as she had her sister and Aunt Libby, she'd be safe from whatever harm the Argent's or the Hale's tried to bring her.

* * *

_Twelve…_

Skyler was braiding Lydia's hair and Lydia was practicing with their dog Coco's long hair when Skyler announced that Aunt Libby had called her earlier and informed her of the impending arrival of a new banshee in Beacon Hills. "She's the last of her family and the end of her family's banshee line, same as us. She has nowhere else to go so Aunt Libby's going to take her in and train her up as a favor to her family. She'll be here in about a week." Skyler explained.

"What's her name? Is she close to my age?" Lydia asked, excited by the prospect of having someone outside her family to share the secret with.

"Her name's Meredith and she's twelve years old, a bit out of your league, kiddo. But maybe when you're older you can be her friend." Skyler said apologetically. Lydia groaned disappointedly.

"I wish there were more banshees around." Lydia complained.

"I wished the same thing when I was your age," Skyler replied, sounding like Mom and Grandma for a moment. "But once you get older and the voices get clear enough that you can hear them without the soundproof room and screaming, you'll realize other banshees are annoying as hell."

"Doesn't that mean we're annoying too?"

"I guess from certain perspectives. Maybe that's why we rarely come together with banshees outside our family."

"Have you ever met another banshee in real life besides me and Aunt Libby?"

"No, but Aunt Libby once told me about a gathering she attended when she was about your age with her own aunt. A great man had died and every banshee in the entire state of New York subconsciously gathered together to mourn him. Their keening was so loud and saddening that people thought the dead had risen from their graves and some say people in the nearby towns were even driven to suicide by the sound. The superstitious and the God-fearing screamed all night that God was angry and Hell's gates were being pried open by Lucifer himself. Some got themselves so worked up, they sent themselves packing, only adding fuel to the fire when you think about. Officially however it was just a terrible wind storm whipping through the northern Appalachian Mountains."

"How many were there?" Lydia asked eagerly.

"Dozens according to Aunt Libby. Maybe even a hundred. All of them donning white, grey, black, green, and red. It was as if they had all gotten the same dress code along with their invites to the occasion in their mystic mailboxes. And they were all beautiful with fair hair in shades of gold and red, like mine and yours. Their voices were a mix of terrifying and mesmerizing." Skyler rested her chin on Lydia's shoulder and grinned. "She said nothing felt more right than being there. It was like a family reunion."

Lydia was awed just imagining what such a gathering must have been like. She hoped she could experience something like that someday. Aunt Libby was so lucky, she thought.

"I guess other banshees are less annoying in person than they are in your head." She remarked. "I guess so." Skyler agreed, smiling.

"Sky?"

"Yeah?"

"Can me and you go to a gathering like that someday?"

"I don't see any reason why not."

* * *

_Seven…_

"I don't like him." Dad commented for not the first, not the second, not even the third time. It was the _fourth_ time since Joey had arrived that Dad had made the same statement to no one in particular as he leered through the kitchen window at the pool outside where Skyler, her boyfriend Joey, and some of their friends were hanging out, enjoying one of the last warm days before autumn settled in completely. Lydia and Mom had giggled the first time and second time, rolled their eyes simultaneously the third time he said it, but now they just groaned. "Leave them be, Brian." Mom said as she loaded the dishwasher with the casualties of breakfast. Lydia loved the weekends because Mom would make a five-star breakfast with Skyler and Dad's help. The only downside was that in summer that meant her parents wouldn't let her get in the pool until a whole half hour after breakfast.

Lydia looked at her sister outside the kitchen window with envious eyes. Why did Skyler not have to wait thirty stupid minutes to swim? Lydia bet her friends didn't have to wait either. Teenagers had it so easy. She couldn't wait to be one. Lydia huffed and went back to staring at the clock on the kitchen wall, waiting for the big hand to reach the five. It was already on four. She just had to wait five minutes.

"Lydia," She turned to her mother, who smiled at her fondly. "What's five minutes? Go on outside and play." She said, nodding towards the backdoor. Lydia grinned and sprinted out of the kitchen and upstairs to change into her bathing suit.

She made an entrance when she joined her sister and friends in the pool. Lydia swooped out the backdoor and leapt into the pool shouting, "Cannonball!" She landed with a splash and she resurfaced to find Joey and his guy friends laughing and cheering for her while the girls sunbathing by the pool scowled. Even Skyler looked annoyed and she had no reason to be seeing as she was already wet from her own swim.

"You got some lungs on you, Lyd." Joey commented laughingly, twisting a pinky in his left ear.

"Must run in the family." His friend Kyle added with smirk directed at Skyler. Lydia watched her sister narrow her eyes at the lacrosse player before beaming him with a beach ball. It bounced off his head with a satisfying wet smack that made Joey and Skyler laugh over Kyle's pouting that he was just joking. Sandra told him it served him right for making such dumb jokes around a little kid, pointing at Lydia.

"Oh come on, she's like six years old. She doesn't get it." Kyle said.

Lydia glared at him. "I am _eight_, thank you very much."

Skyler sent her a warning look for some reason. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Eight-schmeight." He responded. "Two years doesn't make that big of a difference."

Lydia felt anger bubble in her belly. "Well eight years sure does, because I know _exactly _what you were talking about, you pervert!" Skyler gasped and the boys hooted and hollered. Before Lydia knew it, Skyler was dragging her out of the pool and around the side of the house. Skyler leveled her with angry green eyes. Lydia shrank, suddenly aware of how many nerves she must have stepped on in the last few minutes.

"I'm sorry." She whimpered, hoping to avoid getting yelled at.

The anger faded away, but the sternness did not subside from her expression. Skyler let out an aggravated sigh and then pointed towards the front of the house. "Just go inside and watch cartoons. You can come back outside and swim when my friends leave." Skyler said and then she walked off. Lydia skittered off to do as she was told, hoping Toon Disney might erase the last mortifying few minutes from her memory.

* * *

_Six… _

Joey had come over for Sunday family dinner. Lydia had to be all up dragged downstairs to the dinning room by her father—she was too embarrassed to see Joey after yesterday. She had tried to tell Mom and Dad she felt sick, but Mom would have nothing of it and sent Dad upstairs to wrangle her into her seat at the dinner table while she and Grandma Martin finished up dinner preparations in the kitchen. Lydia wanted to die a little when Joey chuckled upon seeing her enter the room. Skyler seemed to share the sentiment the way she groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Am I sensing an inside joke?" Aunt Libby asked, glancing between the end of the table Lydia sat at and Skyler and Joey's end.

Joey shook his head with a smile. "No, it's just," He chuckled. "Lydia's a funny kid. Really…precocious. Ya agree?"

"Oh yes, very much so." Libby answered happily. "Lydia is a shining star in the making, no matter what Aunt Brianna said." Libby seemed to regret those words as soon as they left her mouth.

Joey looked at Skyler with confusion. "You have another aunt?"

Skyler shook her head. "No, Aunt Brianna was Aunt Libby and my grandfather's aunt. Mine and Lydia's great-great aunt. She died when Lydia was a baby."

Joey glanced warily over at Lydia, who avoided his gaze, instead focusing on the nearby beige wall. "And…" Joey's voice dropped to a whisper. "What did she say about Lydia?"

"Oh, you know, old timey nonsense about how she should have been a boy to carry on the family name. She was really traditional like that. No wonder seeing as she was nearly a hundred when she died. We try not to dwell on it since she was half out of her mind and on her death bed when Lydia was born. She was in no position to judge." Skyler explained. Joey cast Lydia another uneasy look, she felt.

"You seem really open about talking about it in front of her." He said.

"In our family, secrets are pointless. We find out eventually, without fail." Replied Libby.

"It just seems like such a delicate subject…"

"No offense, Joey, but you don't know the full story." Skyler said.

"Well, why not tell me it?"

"I would except my mom just came in with the casserole, so maybe later."

"Oh, well, okay." Joey submitted, turning his attention to the main course for the evening as it was set in the middle of the table.

Later that evening, as Lydia brushed her teeth at the bathroom sink with Skyler drying off from her shower just behind her, she asked, "Do you think Mom and Dad will have a son someday?" Skyler paused in drying her hair before resuming the task.

"No. Aunt Libby and Grandma have tried to make them change their minds, but Mom and Dad have always said two is enough for them." She answered. She then shot Lydia a look via the mirror. "If this is about Aunt Brianna, Lydia, I will tell you for thousandth time that she was stuck in the dark ages and not ready to accept that everything has an end, including the Martin banshee line. Who cares if we'll be the last ones? As long as we go out with a band as two of the most kickass banshees ever, I'm pretty cool with that fact."

Lydia smiled at her sister with the help of the mirror before spitting and rinsing her mouth. She threw her hair into a pony tail and smiled at Skyler as she approached the bathroom door. "I guess you're right. Aunt Brianna was just being a bitter old bag and didn't know what she was talking about. Thanks, Sky." Lydia thanked her sister as she slipped out the door.

"You're welcome, Lyd." Skyler called as the door closed.

Once inside the sanctity of her room, Lydia collapsed into bed and clutched a throw pillow to her chest as she tried to silence herself so Skyler wouldn't hear the anger of her soul. Stupid Brianna didn't know a thing she was talking about, she thought furiously. Who was she to judge her for not being born a boy? Why not blame her parents for not trying for a third child, or her nephew for not having a second son to give Lydia and her sister male cousins, or even her own brother? Lydia hated the idea of some crone on her death bed who didn't know her at all passing judgment as some sort of failure before she even got a chance to prove her wrong. Well, it was a good thing the veil of death was thin for a banshee, because Lydia hoped Brianna would have a clear view from the afterlife when she proved how wrong she was about her. It was just like Skyler said: who cared if she was one of the last Martin banshees? As long as she was one of best there ever was, that should be enough.

Lydia would be the best. She wouldn't allow it to be any other way.

* * *

_Five…_

Lydia found Mrs. Brown an incredibly boring substitute teacher. She was one of those subs that did nothing but sit at the regular teacher's desk balancing their checkbook, making sure no one broke anything if the movie she borrowed from the school library failed to keep them occupied. Lydia sighed as yet another kid's movie contrivance reared its ugly head on the TV screen at the front of the room. It was so predictable it was insulting. Lydia wondered how the rest of the class wasn't as bored as she was. Looking over at Scott McCall on the other side of the darkened classroom, she guessed it was because most of the class was made up of boys and boys loved anything superhero related.

Still, Scott looked lonely without that Stiles kid beside him, Lydia noticed. Stiles hadn't been at school yesterday either. Lydia had heard that he was in the hospital but not because he was hurt. His mom was sick—had been for a long time now, everyone knew. Last year, when Mrs. Stilinski was first hospitalized, the teacher had had the whole class make her "Get Well" cards for Stiles to bring her next time he visited her. Lydia had asked Stiles if Mrs. Stilinski liked them the next day, but he had been very vague about his answer. Stiles always acted especially weird when someone asked him about his mom, which was really saying something for Stiles, who was already weird enough any other time. No wonder Scott was his only friend.

Lydia tried to avoid Stiles most of the time, especially lately. Last week, when she was standing behind him inline for the water fountain, she felt as if something was lodged in her throat. Every time she got close to him since around the time his mom was put in the hospital, she got that feeling. She knew what it meant and she couldn't even look at Stiles because of it. How could you look at someone knowing that all their hopes were going to be crushed soon?

Mrs. Brown paused the movie and turned on the lights.

"The bell is about to ring. Gather your things, kids." She announced.

Lydia went to her cubby and grabbed her backpack and put on her rain slicker. It was raining outside—had been all day. The bell rang and Lydia flooded out of the classroom and into the hallway with her classmates. She took the side entrance outside into the parking lot where Skyler's car was waiting. Lydia climbed into the front seat.

"Mom and Dad won't be home until late," Skyler said as pulled out of the parking lot. "So I was thinking me and you could pick up a few movies from the video store, grab a pizza, and have a girl's night. I'll even let you stay up past your bed time."

"Really?" Lydia asked excitedly. Skyler nodded.

"We'll head to the video store right now."

They arrived there several minutes later and hurried inside to avoid the rain. The bell dinged as the door opened and the guy at the counter and a young woman leaning against it looked over at them. The young woman grinned.

"Skyler, fancy seeing you here." She greeted her sister.

"Oh, hey, Ms. Argent." Skyler replied uneasily.

"Oh please, call me Kate. I get enough 'Ms. Argent' at school."

The young woman, Kate's eyes flitted down to Lydia. She smiled at Skyler.

"Your sister?"

Skyler looked between Lydia and Kate. "Uh, yeah. This is Lydia. Lydia this is Kate, she's a student-teacher at my school." Skyler explained.

Kate bent down and extended a hand to Lydia. "Hey there, Lydia. It's nice to meet you."

Lydia shook her hand. "Same."

Kate's smile broadened as she stood to her full height. "So you two here to get a movie I take it? Here's a suggestion, go somewhere else. I was just telling this dunce over here off for not having any classics in stock." She said, rolling her eyes and pointing with her thumb over her shoulder at the scowling clerk. "Really? What respectable video store doesn't have The Lion King on one its shelves? What am I supposed to tell my niece?"

"You have a niece?" Skyler asked.

"Yeah, she's about her age," Kate replied, gesturing to Lydia. "My brother's kid. He and his wife went down to Mexico for business though so me and my dad are watching her for the week. I just love spending time with her." Kate sighed. "I would have made a great older sister." She lamented.

"Not greater than Skyler." Lydia said with a smirk.

Kate and Skyler laughed. "I like this one." Kate said and then she made towards the door.

"I've gotta go. See you in class tomorrow." Kate said, opening the door and waving goodbye. "And remember that homework." She warned playfully.

"I always do." Skyler replied and when the door closed she made her way towards the romance section, pulling Lydia along.

"Today is your lucky day, Lydia," She said over her shoulder as they made their way down one of the aisles "Why?" Lydia asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because today I'm going to introduce you to the greatest love story ever." Skyler plucked a case off one of the shelves with a grin and held it out to her. Lydia looked at the cover curiously. It looked pretty cheesy with the couple embracing in the rain, soaked to the bone. That must have been uncomfortable to film. "The Notebook." She read aloud, sending Skyler an uncertain look.

"Trust me. You'll love it." Skyler assured her.

They picked out three more movies and were back in the car in ten minutes. Skyler had just turned the ignition when there was a knock on the driver's side window that made her and Lydia jump in their seats. Skyler looked out her window and growled as she rolled it down.

"What do you want, Peter?" She shouted.

"I saw you talking to Argent." He said.

"What? Are you stalking us, creep?"

"No, actually I was charged with the task of doing the grocery shopping and as I was driving home I spotted you and Kate talking inside. Care to explain?"

"Pure coincidence. Trust me, I was taught just as well as you were growing up not to get too close to an Argent." Skyler switched the car into reverse. "You should worry about your own lot. Your nephew is in need of a refresher course." And with that, Skyler jolted the car backwards and drove off, leaving Peter in a stunned state.

"What was that about?" Lydia asked worriedly, watching the video store disappear behind them.

"Nothing for you to worry about. Now do me a favor and turn on the radio. I want to hear the weather report." Lydia didn't believe that there was nothing to worry about, but she did as she was told and didn't say a word on the way home. When they got back, Skyler told her to order the pizza while she took Coco on a quick walk, telling Lydia not to leave the house until she got back. But when Lydia peered out the living room window, she saw she wasn't leaving the house, just tracing the perimeter of their property with a weird powdery substance from a plastic bag her sister usually kept in the glove box of her car "just in case".

* * *

_Four…_

Friday afternoon, Aunt Libby invited them to her house in the next town over to help make up Meredith's room.

"Does Meredith like purple?" Lydia asked, referring to the color of the walls.

"I talked to her just a few days ago over the phone. She said any color was fine, she's just glad to have somewhere to stay." Libby explained. "

"That reminds me," Skyler cut in from where she was making up the bed. "Does she…know the secret?"

Libby shook her head and Lydia's eyes grew wide.

"How can she not know?" She asked. "Didn't her aunt tell her?"

"Meredith didn't have an aunt. Her father was an only child. Her great-aunt, an old friend of mine, was estranged from her nephew until his and his wife's deaths. By the time she took in the girl in, she was on her own death bed and was in no state to be believed by Meredith if she told her. So she made me Meredith's godmother so I could do it for her."

Lydia felt pity for Meredith. She'd hate to be left in the dark so long about her powers. Imagine hearing the voices she had since she was young and having no one explain why it was happening. They must have called her crazy. She might even believe she's crazy. It was something out of a Greek tragedy.

"Don't worry," Lydia turned to see Skyler smiling reassuringly at her. "Meredith will have all of us now."

Lydia scowled at her sister. "I hate when you tune in like that to my emotions. It's almost as bad as mind reading."

Skyler shrugged her shoulders. "You're my little sister. Your privacy is nonexistent from where I'm standing."

"Secrets don't exist between us, Lydia." Aunt Libby reminded her. "It's nearly impossible to keep them hidden very long so why bother." Libby pressed a kiss to Lydia's temple. "The only secret that you should care about keeping is _the_ secret." She whispered in her ear.

Lydia nodded understandingly as she straightened the mirror out on the wall. As she did so, she was forced to look at herself. She remembered what her sister had told her almost two weeks ago when she asked why the secret was so important. She realized then why she called it a burden to carry. Lydia was only eight years old and already she was beginning to see the dangers and pressure that came with being caught between two worlds. She didn't know how her Mom or Dad would fair if they had to bear the burden of the secret as well. It was for the best that they lie to them.

It didn't escape Lydia's grasp that she'd spend the rest of her life looking at her reflection, seeing a liar.

* * *

_One… _

Even though it was a school night, Skyler sneaked out to go somewhere. Lydia watched her do it from her bedroom window at one in the morning. She remembered thinking groggily first that Skyler should have been less loud about it if she was going to do something stupid like sneak out, and second that it was strange that her sister was sneaking out in the clothes she was. She was wearing a hoodie and jeans rather than her usual party & date worthy clothes. Why would Skyler sneak out for anything other than a party or a date with Joey? Lydia figured she'd ask Skyler about it in the morning.

She awoke at seven o'clock the next morning and when she went down to breakfast, Skyler was already there and ready for school. Dad had already left for the office as usual, Lydia guessed by the bowl and spoon setting at the table where he usually sat. Mom was going to be mad he had forgotten to put his dishes in the sink again she thought as she took a bowl out of the cabinet to make her own breakfast.

Mom rushed down to the kitchen a few minutes later, fully dressed and panicked looking. She grabbed her purse off the counter and kissed each of her daughters on the forehead.

"Sorry, girls, I just got a call from my favorite boutique—they're having a sale and I need to get there before someone snatches those boots I've had my eye on. Have a good day at school, love you!" She shouted as she made her way across the house. The front door shut behind her before either daughter could reply.

Lydia saw her opportunity, so she turned to her sister and asked, "Why did you sneak out last night?"

Skyler looked at her with surprise. "You saw?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "I did more than see it. You were really loud. Maybe you should grease your window so it doesn't squeak so much."

Skyler chuckled. "Maybe I should. I'd probably get caught sneaking out less."

"Or you could just not sneak out like some delinquent." Lydia suggested.

"You'll understand when you're older that that is simply not an option sometimes, Lyd."

"Whatever, just answer my question. Why did you sneak out?"

"I was looking into some things. Aunt Libby called me on my cell last night and told me to go out to the preserve."

"To do what?"

Skyler sighed and then visibly brace herself. "I went to the Hale house." She answered.

"What?!" Lydia shouted, looking at her sister in shock.

"Lower your voice. We don't need any broken windows." Skyler warned her.

"You want me to lower my voice when you're the one visiting the Hale house in the middle of the night?" Lydia asked. "Why would Aunt Libby send you there? She doesn't want us going near them or the Argent's I thought." She said in disbelief.

"She didn't tell me to." Skyler said. "She asked me to go out to the preserve and somehow I got draw to the Hale house." She explained.

Lydia's surprise morphed into dread. "Are they okay?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah but…I don't know for how much longer." Skyler answered hesitantly.

"Are we going warn them, have you already?" Her sister shook her head.

"We can't get involved. And even if we did warn them, there's no way of knowing how or when it will happen or even who. We wouldn't be much help."

"Then what are we going to do? Just standby and watch?" Lydia didn't want to be a passive bystander to something horrible she could have helped prevent.

"I don't know. Which is why me and you are skipping school today and going to Aunt Libby's. She'll have the answers we need." Skyler said. "Now go upstairs and get dressed. Quickly." She ordered. Lydia did as she was told and rushed upstairs, but as she changed her clothes and fixed her hair and brushed her teeth, going through the motions of her usual morning routine, she couldn't shake a bad feeling in her gut that was slowly creepy up her throat. She worried for the Hale family, even creepy Peter.

The drive to Aunt Libby's house took longer than usual. The rain from the past several days had taken down a few trees, blocking the quickest routes there. Skyler had to take the long away, which took an hour. But even when they were just around the corner from the street her house was on, something was there to stop them in their tracks.

Lydia felt her blood run cold and the urge to scream grew unspeakably strong with each turn of the wheels of Skyler's four-door. Looking over at her sister, Lydia knew she felt the same. Their car turned the corner and down the street they saw an ambulance parked outside Aunt Libby's house. Skyler idled in the road as she and Lydia stared at the scene playing out before them. They watched the paramedics wheel their aunt out of her house on a stretcher, followed by a panicked looking young girl. Lydia was vaguely aware of the fact that today was the day Meredith was due to arrive. That must have been her.

The paramedics put Libby in the ambulance and took off, taking Meredith with them. The Martin sisters were left in its wake, staring straight ahead, no doubt thinking the same thing. It took several minutes for Skyler to shake herself and pull into a neighbor's driveway to turn around and start heading back to Beacon Hills.

"What are we going to do now?" Lydia whimpered as her sister drove fifteen miles over the speed limit to get through the preserve as quickly as possible.

"We're going to go home, pack our bags, and get the fuck out of Beacon Hills. We'll head to Mom's parents house, and if anyone asks, we'll say we wanted to pay them a surprise visit to commemorate…something, anything. Whatever, I'll make up a better excuse later." Skyler answered anxiously, her eyes trained on the road.

"What if we get in trouble?" Lydia asked without thinking.

"I don't care if I get grounded for a whole year as long is it means we make it through this mess alive."

Lydia shrank into her seat and clutched her legs to her chest. Alive…when one of your options was simply coming out alive, you knew it was a bad situation. Lydia didn't have a clue what was going on really, but now she at least knew it was life or death.

She wasn't sure whether knowing that bit of information was a good or a bad thing.

She did know however that she didn't want to think too hard on it. She turned on the radio, hoping some music would distract her. Toxic by Britney Spears came on about halfway through the song, followed by My Immortal by Evanescence.

The song was too slow to keep Lydia distracted for long.

"Is...Is Aunt Libby…?" She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Yes." Skyler answered her honestly, her voice wrought with anguished keens and tears she was holding back. Lydia had been swallowing back her own since they started back towards home and hearing her sister confirm her fears made some of those tears spring to her eyes and a sob ripped through her violently. She hid her face and began to cry.

"Sssh, Lydia, it's okay, I promise." Skyler hushed her softly. "We're going to be okay. We're almost home. We're going to be okay." She said it as if she was trying to convince herself. Lydia couldn't stop the fresh round of sobbing that wracked her body.

It took several minutes for her sobs to subside into whimpers. By then, a pop song had replaced My Immortal. It's fast tempo and stupid lyrics about partying were the last things Lydia wanted to hear, so she reached over and angrily turned the knob on the radio, changing the station to some white noise. The annoying buzzing wasn't much better, but it was better nonetheless. The rain finally stopped too and Skyler was able to turn off her windshield wipers.

For a time, she began to feel better.

Skyler was doing her best to get them away from whoever was trying to hurt them and had already hurt Aunt Libby, and Lydia had utmost faith in her sister to follow through with her promise of safety. Skyler had a good head on her shoulders and had bravery in spades. Lydia trusted her.

It was just when she had somehow overcome her fears and assured herself everything would be okay that the overwhelming urge to scream seized her. Lydia swallowed it back with all her will, fighting to keep it down.

Don't scream.

Don't scream.

Don't scream, Lydia.

She repeated this mantra a thousand times, chewing her bottom lip all the while to occupy her mouth and keep it from forming the motions to scream.

It had to be a mistake. There was no way this could possibly be happening.

New tears formed in Lydia's eyes, clouding her vision. Her throat felt raw and every swallow of saliva hurt. A whimper escaped her lips and she looked over at her sister, hoping to find some form of reassurance.

What she found was her sister looking the same as she had last time she looked over at her. Her expression stone cold, eyes focused on the road, her breathing erratic. It was the farthest thing from reassuring.

"No…" Lydia cried, burying her face in her hands. "No, no, this can't be happening." She knocked her fist angrily into the passenger side window. It hurt but she didn't care.

She didn't want to die.

She hadn't realized she'd voiced that proclamation aloud until Skyler replied.

"You're not going to die, Lydia. If you were I would have sensed it by now. You're going to live." She told Lydia as if she was angered by the idea Lydia would even consider her own death a potential outcome at the moment.

A sob caught in Lydia's throat and her eyebrows knit together with confusion.

"You don't…" Terror's grip on Lydia grew so tight it became hard to breathe. It was like she was being choked. She couldn't speak; she couldn't scream.

All of a sudden, Lydia recalled one of her first lessons as a banshee. It wasn't even really a lesson so much as a grave warning she had forgotten about until now.

Banshees couldn't sense their own approaching deaths.

She had to warn her. Lydia had to warn Skyler. She needed to say something. Quickly, before it could happen. Before—Lydia couldn't bring herself to even think it. She felt herself begin to gasp for air. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't talk, she couldn't scream. She couldn't warn Skyler. She needed to know. Now, she needed to tell her now, before, before, before—

"Lyd? Lydia? Lydia, are you okay?!" She heard Skyler's panicked voice shouting. She felt her hand on her shoulder, shaking her. Lydia's mouth moved to gasp the words she desperately wanted scream. She felt it, but she didn't hear it. All she heard was Skyler's panicked voice and her own choking breaths of air.

Say something! She yelled at herself.

Say something! _Warn_ her! Do something, stupid!

Don't let your sister die! Scream! _Scream_! Help her!

Lydia and Skyler were both suddenly throw forward in their seats as something made impact with the back of their car. They would have been thrown through the windshield without their seatbelts. The sudden jolt was enough knock Lydia out of her panic attack, but instead of hyperventilating in the passenger seat, all she could do was sit in stunned silence and stare at the road ahead with wide eyes. Skyler cursed under her breath in the driver's seat.

"What…what the hell, man?" She muttered, sagging in her seat as if exhausted.

Her eyes went wide as they heard the engine of the trunk behind them road. It backed up and jerked forward, into the back of Skyler's four-door second time. Lydia let out a screech; Skyler screamed a slur of curses and stomped on the gas. The four-door zoomed down the road and took the bend so fast that Lydia found herself pressed against the passenger side door for a moment. The trunk followed them and caught up quickly, coming to speed right beside them. From there, it purposefully pressed against them, forcing the car against the guardrail lining the road. Lydia's heart was racing.

"Sky, I—" She didn't even know what she was going to say, but she never got a chance to say it. The car suddenly flipped and the next minute was blur and afterwards, everything was black.

Lydia blinked awake, expecting to find herself back in her bed, warm under her blankets and clutching a pillow to her chest. Instead, she found herself soaking wet and shivering against someone who had their arms wrapped around her as she carded a hand through her wet hair. Lydia looked up to see her sister smiling down at her, her bottom lip and chin covered in blood. Lydia nearly jerked away but she realized with a start that she couldn't move.

"Wha-? Why can't I move? What happened?" She coughed. Her throat felt unbearably dry.

"She was trying to get rid of us." Skyler answered. "But you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"If you mean the first thing, it's a long story. But to be quick about it, it's because we had the power to undo everything she's trying accomplish. If you mean the second part, it's because…I'm sorry, Lyd." Skyler choked out, her hold tightening around Lydia.

"Sky?" Lydia's eyes grew wide at the sight of fresh blood dripping down her sister's chin. "Skyler!"

"Don't worry. The police are on their way with an ambulance. They'll be here any minute. Hear the sirens?" Skyler laughed weakly. "It's funny how those annoying things are so suddenly such a huge relief."

Her smile faded away and her eyes began to dull. The life was leaving them.

"Sky, you're going to be okay, right?" Lydia pleaded, hoping for her sister's reassurance. She searched her face for some form of it.

Skyler shook her head. "There's no point in lies and secrets between us, Lyd. You know that." She said.

"But you said I didn't have to worry?" Lydia snapped, her bottom lip trembling.

"Yes, because when I'm done casting this spell, you'll fall asleep, and when you wake up, you'll belong to only one world and forget everything about the other. It's the only way to keep you safe from not just her, but both sides. You won't be a threat or of use to anyone. You'll be able to have a normal life where you can have friends you don't have to lie to and…you won't need me or Aunt Libby to take care of you."

"No, I'll need you no matter what. You're my big sister. What am I supposed to do without you? You can't leave me behind." Lydia shouted. Everything was getting fuzzy, including her sister's face. "Don't make me forget. I don't want to forget. I want to stay a banshee, I want to be able to hear your voice still!" She screamed desperately.

"I'm sorry, Lydia."

Everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: I know this incredibly long, but I hope you enjoyed it. I just had to put this all down in one chapter because I don't have the time to do a whole series. I have three others going on right now. I had to get this out. **

**This is basically just a lot of venting from about theories, headcanons, and such I've seen. **

**I hope you enjoyed it and please review if you'd like. Again sorry about the length. I know it must be insane. Sorry… **


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